The Department of Philosophy is part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and offers both a Major and a Minor in Philosophy.

The Department counts 21 full-time faculty members working in a variety of specialties, who are active scholars committed to undergraduate education. They share their expertise in a wide variety of philosophical schools, national traditions, historical periods, and specialized areas of philosophical work.

The curriculum is designed to provide students with a foundation in the history of philosophy and also to encourage students to pursue work in their own areas of interest. Formal coursework is only one part of the Philosophy student's education. Since inquiry and study are most fruitful when conducted in a vital community of fellow scholars, the Department is committed to offering a number of excellent learning opportunities that go beyond traditional classroom structures.

Brandalyn Morris (class of 2026 with a major in Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Biology)  worked with Prof. Teresa Castelão of Philosophy for 12 weeks over the Summer of 2025 under the auspices of the McNair Scholars program (Opens website), and on April 9, the McNair program at GVSU organized at the Alumni House an event to celebrate the accomplishments of their McNair Scholars.

Brandalyn's project was on the philosophy, history, and sociology of science. The framework for her research methodology was Bruno Latour's Actor-Network Theory. Her paper, "Opening the Black Box of Mental Disorders: An Actor-Network-Theory Analysis of Schizophrenia” (Opens Website), has been downloaded all over the world. 

Congratulations to Brandalyn and to Prof. Castelão-Lawless, for their work! 

Professor Judy Whipps is featured on the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy’s homepage in their “I am an American philosopher” interview series. Read the whole interview here (https://american-philosophy.org/i-am-an-american-philosopher-interview-series/i-am-an-american-philosopher-judy-whipps/)